If anyone is still interested in “should kids go on the the climate strike” takes, this one by a teacher I know is probably the best

If it’s a one-off or occasional thing I have no problem with children (teenagers) taking a bit of time off school to take part in an organised protest. It is likely to inspire them a lot more than just another day at school.

“We demand more ambition from our Belgian decision makers on the European and international level,” Climate Coalition Nicolas Van Nuffel said. “But this ambition also needs to be realised at the Belgian level. Since 2012, we have been waiting for a national plan for the climate which implies a strategy, in the short and long term.”

FIGHT FOR LIFE

We are facing an unprecedented global emergency. The government has failed to protect us. To survive, it’s going to take everything we’ve got.

Extinction Rebellion is a campaign by the network. We aim to promote a fundamental change of our political and economic system to one which maximises well-being and minimises harm.

Here in New Zealand last year Jacinda Ardern said that climate change was our new ‘nuclear free moment’, and also talked our climate change stance up at the United nations, but has since been criticised for not matching her words with appropriate action.

Tired of the procrastination and timidity of government-led change, climate rage is now ripe for rebellion. Cordelia Lockett explains why.

All mouth and no trousers. That pretty much sums up New Zealand’s response to climate change. A lot of words but little demonstrable action.

Our new government is promising large but delivering light.

However, that may all be about to change. In the last month, there’s been a sudden surge of new energy in the climate movement. In the United States, several cities (sensibly circumventing any hope of leadership at a federal level) have declared a state of climate emergency. The dynamic new congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is championing a visionary Green New Deal: a mobilisation plan to rapidly reduce carbon while simultaneously addressing associated social problems.

Australian kids are skipping school to protest about the climate. And in Britain a new people’s movement has emerged – Extinction Rebellion – which is disrupting the streets and spreading like wildfire.

In early October this year, the IPCC released a special report highlighting the catastrophic consequences of allowing global temperature increase to exceed 1.5 degrees. The tone was stronger and scarier than previous reports, and the wording unequivocal.

To have any hope of getting climate change under control we need to halve emissions by about 2030 and then drive them steadily down to zero by 2050.

And to do so, it says, would require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”. That sounds to me like systemic change: a social, political and economic transformation, no less.

Our Prime Minister regularly mentions the issue in her speeches, even saying climate change is her generation’s nuclear-free moment. I agree. But where’s the bold programme of policy initiatives to match the strong words and size of the problem? We need leaders who act, not just talk about acting. Let’s do this.

The government needs first to acknowledge the scale and urgency of the problem by declaring a climate emergency and develop a credible plan to decarbonise the economy as quickly and as justly as possible. To do this will require a decent-sized tax on carbon and methane. Cars and cows: a scary agenda for many Kiwis, admittedly.

A massive education and social marketing campaign would help communicate the need for widespread change. This should focus on the financial and other costs of inaction, as well as the multiple benefits of a comprehensive, transition to a fossil-free, climate-protecting society.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a mass movement emerging from the long-standing UK social justice network Rising Up. It’s a response to climate inaction and incrementalism by governments, and instead advocates non-violent direct action and civil disobedience. XR’s radical campaign is sweeping through Europe and beyond. Local groups have cropped up all over the UK, and the spark has already caught fire in Canada, Germany, Sweden, the United States, Australia, Denmark, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Scotland, Spain, Norway, India, Italy, Solomon Islands.

And Aotearoa. Here, there are groups springing up in short order: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Thames, Waihi, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Nelson and Tauranga.

But why now? Was it that latest IPCC report? Or the WWF announcing that we’ve wiped out 60% of the world’s vertebrate animals? Or the wildfires in California killing 88 people – with 200 still missing – and demolishing a whole township? Or the record-smashing Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures? Or just an idea whose time has come?

The speed of the XR pile-on shows a thirst for something big, a grand project. And collective direct action is a great vessel in which to pour one’s climate-related anger, fear and despair. It’s collegial and energising. Tired of the procrastination and timidity of government-led change and frightened by what is being called a direct existential threat, climate rage finally has a home.

It’s something of a cliche, but New Zealand really could be world-leading in its climate response. We have a vibrant indigenous culture of kaitiakitanga, practical virtues of courage and hard work, moral values of equality and harmony with the environment, and a legacy of taking radical political initiatives which have global impact. We can do it again with the climate crisis. It’s not only necessary: it may just be possible.

Are we heading towards “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”, or, as Attenboriugh claims, we face “the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”

Missy has provided coverage of protests against Donald Trump in London.

There were two protests today in London against Trump, both came past my work. I thought the first was big, but the second was massive in comparison.

Video – this starts looking up Haymarket swinging around to Trafalgar Square

Taken about 5 mins later is looking towards Trafalgar Square swinging back around to look up Haymarket.

This was a much bigger protest, we watched it for almost 2 hours from our building and it was still going when I left work.

It was estimated there were about 700,000 – 750,000 people in attendance. That is huge, many of my colleagues were saying it is the biggest protest they had seen in years (for some not since the Iraq War).

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with London, but essentially all of Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross Road on the other side and the Church steps appeared to be full, also it looked like people were crowding in down Northumberland Ave on the other side of Trafalgar Square as well – and Haymarket was also fill of people. To me it looked like more people than what has been there at New Year’s!

One thing that often gets overlooked in these protests is the tremendous pressure they put on the police services.

The police forces in the UK have over the years faced tremendous cuts, they are already stretched with the increase in violent crime and then these protests come along which require a huge police presence.

I am not saying that people should not protest, indeed in a modern democracy it is their right and whether we agree or not with their protests we should always support their democratic right to do so, but also these same people should keep in mind the pressure that is put on police resources when they do organise these large scale protests.

Today’s protests were well behaved, and good natured, indeed there was almost a carnival atmosphere and the police were being open and friendly, in fact the police officer who was directing the protestors was very good natured, in each and every megaphone announcement he began with ‘good afternoon lovely to see you…’ and he finished with ‘…have a lovely day’. I don’t think there is anywhere else in the world the police would be that polite at a protest – especially when the officer in question would be working two weeks without a day off because of the protest.

Earlier in the day I was talking to the officer who was on the megaphone, he was saying today was meant to be his day off, he had just come off seven days straight (three on night shift) and was about to go on eight days straight. He also stated he had been brought in from another borough (along with a number of his colleagues) leaving his borough less protected. Despite all this, and his obvious frustration, he still managed to keep good humour and be polite and friendly, including at one point saying hello (via the megaphone) and waving to me and my colleagues on the balcony at our work. I am in awe of these men and women who do these kind of jobs (whether they be police, fire, ambulance, defence etc) that work under such incredible pressure but still manage to put forward such a positive face to the public when most of us would probably be ready to lose our cool.

Also:

BBC: Trump’s UK visit and protestsOn the second day of his visit to the UK, President Trump has met Prime Minister Theresa May at Chequers and the Queen at Windsor Castle. A number of protests against his visit also took place. Here are the day’s events in pictures.

The Iranian government has claimed ‘sedition’ is defeated, while the US openly promotes the protests, with President Trump tweeting “Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!”

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has declared the defeat of the “sedition” in the country, referring to a wave of anti-government protests.

Maj Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari made the announcement as tens of thousands of people attended pro-government rallies called to counter the unrest.

Gen Jafari said: “Today, we can say that this is the end of the 96 sedition,” referring to the current year – 1396 – in the Persian calendar.

He said “security preparedness and people’s vigilance” had led to the defeat of “enemies” and that the Guards had only intervened in a “limited” way in three provinces.

He added: “There were a maximum of 1,500 people in each place and the number of troublemakers did not exceed 15,000 people nationwide.”

The “enemies” had tried to pose “cultural, economic and security threats against Islamic Iran”, he said.

The general blamed anti-revolutionary agents, pro-monarchists and forces which he said had been “announced by [US-ex Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton to create riot, anarchy, insecurity and intrigue in Iran”.

Clinton still gets blamed for a lot of things in the US, but I’d be surprised if she created the Iranian protests.

I wouldn’t rely on the right sort of support at thee right time from the US – history is littered with rebellions being left in the lurch after prior promises – Trump will do what he thinks is best for him and perhaps for the US.

On Tuesday, US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley branded as “complete nonsense” Iran’s suggestion that external enemies were fomenting the unrest.

She said: “The people of Iran are crying out for freedom. All freedom-loving people must stand with their cause.”

One person was killed and 19 were hurt when a speeding car slammed into a throng of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, where a “Unite the Right” rally of white nationalist and other right-wing groups had been scheduled take place, the city tweeted on its verified account.

A 32-year-old woman was killed while walking across the street, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said. Police were still in the process of notifying her family.

Two Virginia State Patrol troopers were killed in a helicopter crash while “assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation in Charlottesville,” the agency said in a news release. The pilot, Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned 41 on Sunday, died in the crash.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe had a pointed message for the right-wing groups that flocked to Charlottesville on Saturday: “Go home. … You are not wanted in this great commonwealth. Shame on you.”

In addition to the one death and 19 injuries in the car-ramming incident, the city said there were at least 15 other injuries associated with the scheduled rally.

Federal authorities said a civil rights investigation into the deadly crash was opened hours after it happened.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said U.S. Attorney Rick Mountcastle is leading the investigation and has the full support of the Deparment of Justice.

“The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice. When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated,” Sessions said in a statement. “Justice will prevail.”

“The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence, and as this is an ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time,” said a statement from the Richmond, Virginia FBI field office.

“I am heartbroken that a life has been lost here. I urge all people of good will — go home,” Mayor Mike Signer wrote on Twitter.

Virginia’s governor had earlier declared an emergency, and police worked to disperse hundreds of protesters in the college town after clashes broke out ahead of the rally’s scheduled noon ET start.

Fistfights and screaming matches erupted Saturday, barely 12 hours after a scuffle Friday night at the nearby University of Virginia between torch-bearing demonstrators and counterprotesters.

Donald Trump has told Theresa May he won’t come to the UK on a state visit “until the British public supports him coming”, according to a Guardian report but apparently claimed as ‘false’ by the White House..

This probably ensures protests against him visiting.

It’s not a good time for him to visit the UK anyway, there’s enough turmoil there as it is without him stirring things up more.

Donald Trump has told Theresa May in a phone call he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming.

The US president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests and his remarks in effect put the visit on hold for some time.

That’s an open invitation for protests and threats of protests if Trump says they will keep him out of the UK.

The conversation in part explains why there has been little public discussion about a visit.

May invited Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House. She told a joint press conference she had extended an invitation from the Queen to Trump and his wife Melania to make a state visit later in the year and was “delighted that the president has accepted that invitation”.

Many senior diplomats, including Lord Ricketts, the former national security adviser, said the invitation was premature, but impossible to rescind once made.

The acting US ambassador to the UK, Lewis Lukens, a career diplomat, clashed with Trump last week by praising Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, for his strong leadership over the London Bridge and Borough Market terror attack.

Khan’s office pointed out Trump’s error later but the president responded by accusing London’s mayor of making a “pathetic excuse”. Khan then called on the UK government to cancel Trump’s invitation. No date had been fixed for the visit.

Jenna Johnson, a Washington Post reporter tweeted to say that the White House press secretary had told her the Guardian’s report was “false” but added that the White House “won’t say when Trump plans to go to the UK”.

President Trump to Theresa May in a phone call: No state visit to Britain until the British public supports it. https://t.co/9KlPtmRqHu

There have been rallies in support of Donald Trump held across the US, with reports of groups of hundreds turning out in support of their president. There have also been clashes between protesters with some arrests.

From Colorado’s state Capitol to Trump Tower in New York and the Washington Monument, groups of hundreds of people rallied for President Trump on Saturday, waving “Deplorables for Trump” signs and even carrying a life-size cutout of the president.

The March 4 Trump demonstrations were held around the country, and supporters clashed with generally smaller groups of counter protesters.

Hundreds gathered in rallies on both ends of Pennsylvania to show support for Mr. Trump.

Supporters waved signs and flags and listened to speeches during Saturday’s “Spirit of America” rally in Bensalem’s Neshaminy State Park in eastern Pennsylvania’s Bucks County.

Outside the State Capitol in Denver, hundreds gathered, listening to speakers including former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo on the West Steps facing the mountains. Many in the crowd held American flags or wore red, white and blue and held signs with messages like “Veterans before Refugees.”

Chelsea Thomas, an accountant from Thornton, Colorado, brought her family to the rally – and a life-size cardboard cutout of Mr. Trump. She said the family has taken it with them on camping trips, boat rides and a country music festival.

“Let’s support our President and stop the hate!” organizers wrote in the Facebook group for the event, CBS affiliate WBNS-TV reports. “Please join us in this effort to unite the citizens of this great country. Bring your signs and flags to support our President and his administration!”

But the hate is unabated.

In Berkeley, California, Mr. Trump’s supporters fought counter-protesters during a march in support of the president.

Berkeley police said they made 10 arrests including five for battery, four for assault with a deadly weapon (including one with possession of a dagger) and one for resisting arrest.

Near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach Post reported that people on both sides exchanged profanity. Mr. Trump’s motorcade briefly stopped so he could wave at supporters.

Supporters of Mr. Trump, many clad in red, white and blue, sported signs such as “Christians for Trump” and “This is My Women’s March” outside the State Capitol in Columbus, Ohio. The group began loudly chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A” when a band of anti-Trump protesters arrived around noon Saturday.

The anti-Trump group shouted, “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA,” and waved such signs as, “Not Fit to Serve – No Mandate.”

Another police shooting in the US, this time in Baton Rouge, Louisana. It has been reported that 3 officers were shot dead and at least another 3 injured.

This follows tensions and unrest in Baton Rouge since police shot and killed Alton Sterling while holding him on the ground outside a convenience store on July 5. Since then there have been protests and allegations of police beatings.

Three police officers are confirmed dead and three injured in a shooting on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway in the state capital of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. One suspect was killed and two may be at large, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said.Three officers out of five transported to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital have died from their injuries. Two others remain in hospital, with one being in fair condition and the other in a critical state, according to WAFB.

WAFB said that the shootout began in the early hours of Sunday morning on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway in Baton Rouge, less than one mile from police headquarters.

Baton Rouge police responded to a call reporting a “suspicious person walking down Airline Highway with an assault rifle,” a CNN source said, adding that the person opened fire as soon as the police squad arrived.

July 12: East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux III said the “show of force” used during the protests in the city was due in part to “very real and viable threats” against Baton Rouge law enforcement officers.

Three men and a 13-year-old were arrested, he said, in connection with stealing firearms from a pawn shop in a plot to kill police. One of two suspects connected with the plan, Antonio Thomas, was arrested on the roof of the pawn shop with a handgun and a BB rifle and he “stated that he and three other suspects stole the firearms and were going to get bullets to shoot police,” according to a statement from the Baton Rouge Police Department.

A 24-year-old man said Thursday Baton Rouge police stomped and punched him, breaking bones in his face when they arrested him during a demonstration over the weekend near police headquarters.

Javier Dunn of Baton Rouge said at a brief press conference that officers in riot gear charged across Goodwood Boulevard and grabbed him from where he was leaning on a car on the far side of the road around 8:30 p.m. Saturday and dragged him into the street where two Baton Rouge policemen struck him with their feet and fists.

“I was held by two officers on my back, one officer stomping my face into the pavement and another officer kneeling down to throw three punches to my face, to my eye,” Dunn said.

A witness, Tracy Fountain, filmed part of the beating, which she said does not capture the worst of the blows. She said Dunn had not been in the road and did not resist officers before he was grabbed and dragged into the street.

A photo provided by state Rep. Ted James, who said he’s known Dunn for the past 15 years, shows Dunn without cuts or bruises to his face as he helped carry a large banner earlier Saturday, reading “Stop murder by police.”

A bit of irony in the name ‘Baton Rouge’ although batons weren’t used in this beating.

The latest police shooting is likely to increase tensions, not just in Baton Rouge.

Some are making a lot of booing and objects being thrown at John Key and claim it’s a sign of massive public displeasure at Key and the government.

It’s impossible to gauge how the general voting public see events over the last two weeks, beginning with the large turnout for the TPPA protest in Auckland, followed closely by the Waitangi debacle and Key’s appearance at the Auckland nines, and then with the Big Gay Out baying at Key in the weekend.

Labour mostly kept a distance from the TPPA protests in Auckland yesterday. They have also tried to keep a distance between anti-TPPA and anti-trade. But not everyone in Labour is on the same page.

Andrew Little and Labour dabbled with the TPPA signing and protests but from a distance. They tried to portray their anti-TPPA stance as a principled stand on sovereignty in the same league as New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance:

On this day in 1985 the then Labour Government stood up for the rights of New Zealanders. It refused entry to the USS Buchanan after the US Government would neither confirm nor deny the warship had nuclear capability. Fast forward 31 years and today the Labour Opposition is again standing up for New Zealand sovereignty which the TPPA undermines.

I’m not sure they are onto a winner with this approach, it’s just one of many mixed and muddled messages on the TPPA and is unlikely to get much traction with the TPPA protest movement, nor those who see trade agreements as a necessity.

The stage-managed signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement at a casino in Auckland today highlights the divisions National’s handling of the deal has caused in New Zealand, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says.

“The Government’s whole management of the agreement has been botched, from the total secrecy to ramming it down people’s throats.

“This has caused a deep divide, and inviting international leaders to sign it just two days before Waitangi – our national day – has added salt to that wound.

“Labour is a pro-free trade party but the TPP goes further than other agreements in undermining our democracy. We shouldn’t need a permission slip from foreign corporations to pass our own laws. That’s why Labour cannot support the agreement in its current form.

“Other countries such as Australia and Malaysia are able to ban foreigners from buying their homes. New Zealand cannot under this deal. That’s just not right.

“Open and transparent debate is crucial to a healthy democracy but the TPP process and John Key’s handling of the deal after it was signed has damaged that.

“Today’s protests are a public sign of the deep discomfort many New Zealanders feel about what is happening in this country. The Government must now seek ways to heal that wound,” Andrew Little says.

This is odd from Little, in particular “John Key’s handling of the deal after it was signed”. The TPPA was only signed yesterday, about the same time this statement seems to have been posted, so dissing Key’s post-signing handling is unjustified.

If Labour opposes the TPPA why wasn’t the Labour Party more involved with the anti-TPPA protest today?

We’re opposed to the TPPA in its current form because compromises to New Zealand’s sovereignty are not justified by the meagre economic gains. A number of Labour people are involved in today’s protests, including MPs who’ve spoken at rallies around the country.

But Labour involvement with the protest was low profile, especially with Labour’s front bench MPs.

Today, I joined thousands of Kiwis in protest against provisions in the TPPA that would undermine our sovereignty. Great to see people from all walks of life engaged and expressing their views peacefully and thoughtfully.

The New Zealand Labour Party has always stood for free trade and always will – just not at the expense of our sovereignty.

Miriam Bookman Hi David,

I am very disappointed in seeing Labour supporters marching alongside an anti semitic banner, and that you think it appropriate to re-post this image. This is not the Labour I wish to support.

It may be hard to choose your neighbours in a protest march but choice of publicity photos can be an issue.